The Government Approves Rules for Coordination of Acquisition of More Than 10% of Voting Shares in Communication Line Operator
By a government resolution, the Rules for coordination of acquisition of more than 10% of voting shares, as well as stakes in an organization engaged in managing communication lines as an operator, have been approved.
The application must include the following documents:
- Copies of the founding documents, the charter of the legal entity applicant or group of applicants if the acquisition of shares or stakes is carried out by a group of applicants.
- Information about affiliated persons of the applicant acquiring shares or stakes. When coordinating the acquisition of more than 10% of voting shares or stakes in an organization engaged in managing communication lines by a group of applicants, information about affiliated persons is provided separately for each subject.
- Information about the shares, stakes, or property in the statutory capital of intercity or international communication operators belonging to the applicant at the time of application submission, as well as the owners of telecommunication networks.
- Information on the quantity and value of the shares, stakes, or property in the statutory capital of intercity or international communication operator or telecommunication network owner being acquired.
- Draft contract under which the transaction for the coordination of acquisition of more than 10% of voting shares or stakes in an organization managing communication lines as an intercity or international communication operator will be concluded.
- Consortium joint venture agreement (if participating in a consortium).
The information provided to the authorized body is certified by the signature of the applicant or the head of the group of applicants.
The authorized body verifies the completeness of the documents within three working days from the date of receipt of the application with the attached documents.
If the applicant submits an incomplete set of documents or documents with expired validity, the authorized body sends a letter to the applicant indicating the missing documents.
The presence of commercial, official, and other legally protected secrets in the provided documents and information cannot be a reason for refusal to provide them to the authorized body.
If there is information constituting commercial, official, and other legally protected secrets in the submitted documents, the applicant provides a comprehensive list of such information.
Within five working days from the date of receipt of the application, the authorized body sends copies of the application and all attached documents to the national security agencies.
The national security agencies, within ten working days from the date of receiving the copies of the application with the attached documents from the authorized body, send a letter to the authorized body either approving the proposed transaction or providing a reasoned refusal.
Based on the consideration of the application, the authorized body sends a letter to the applicant either approving the transaction or providing a reasoned refusal to coordinate the acquisition of more than 10% of voting shares or stakes in an organization managing communication lines as an intercity or international communication operator by physical and legal entities, in the following cases:
- The documents provided are inaccurate.
- The transaction will result in the predominant participation of the applicant (group of applicants) in the management of intercity or international communication operators, posing a threat to national security.
The decision on coordinating the acquisition of more than 10% of voting shares or stakes in an organization managing communication lines as an intercity or international communication operator by physical and legal entities is made by the authorized body with subsequent notification of the national security agencies.
The resolution enters into force on May 6, 2024.
